Senior guard Brett Tiberi scored a career-high 22 points, all in the second half, and junior Dimonde Hale added 18 as the Big Red handed 23rd ranked  Wabash College a 72-62 defeat on its home court in Crawfordsville, Ind.

Denison held off the Little Giants throughout the second half by hitting timely shots and by cashing in at the charity stripe.  Denison hit 21-of-27 free throws over the final 20 minutes and Tiberi got red-hot from beyond the arc.

After going through the first half, 0-for-4 from 3-point range, Tiberi would proceed to go 5-for-5 from deep and 7-of-8 from the free throw line.  His 22 points came in just 15 minutes of action in the second half.

Despite shooting just 37 percent in the first half, Denison led 27-24.  In the second half Denison would push its lead out to as much as 11-points early in the period.  Things would get interesting with just under seven minutes to play when Wabash cut the Denison lead to one at 48-47.

Mike Garabedian would follow with a pair of free throws and after a quick miss at the other end by Jordan Zinnerman, Tiberi would knock down his fourth 3-pointer of the half, putting DU back up 53-47 with five minutes to play.

Two minutes later, Wabash would get to within four points but Denison would answer the call once again, this time as Hale connected on a basket inside to put his squad up 58-52.  After a Wabash miss, Hale would be fouled and the junior, who is 13-for-17 (.765) from the free throw line over the last two games, hit a pair to put his team back up by eight.

Wabash just wouldn't go away and it looked as if they still had a glimmer of hope left when Houston Hodges drilled a 3-pointer and was fouled in the process, setting him up for a potential 4-point play.  Hodges would miss the free throw and Tiberi would provide the final dagger via his fifth 3-pointer, this time from the far corner.  That put DU up 63-55 and Denison's free throw shooting would put the game away over the final two minutes.

Tiberi's 22 points bested his previous career-high of 20 set against Hiram in 2010.  Hale's 18 points came off a 6-of-13 shooting day.  He also added five rebounds.   The Big Red were without senior point guard Jim Leffew and Larry Farmer helped pick up the slack with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. 

Zinnerman led Wabash (14-5, 6-4 NCAC) with 18 points.

Denison improves to 8-11 overall and 5-5 in the North Coast Athletic Conference.  They return to Granville for a Wednesday (Feb. 1) game against No. 19 Wooster at 7:30 p.m.